Slightly unorthodox

Continuing up the road to the mountain of Ostroška GredaI, I found the Ostrog monastery jammed in a crevice.
Founded by Vasilije, the Bishop of Herzegovina and later known as St. Vasilije of Ostrog, whose body is kept in a box covered with cloth and guarded by a verger, ( that is a man on the verge of sleep,) inside one off the two remaining cave chapels. As I was being closely watched by a priest I did not dare to take any pictures: it was too dim in the candlelight and looked like a pile of laundry anyway. Despite appearances, word of the miraculous healing powers of his mortal remains spread far and wide, and the monastery become a center of pilgrimage not only for Orthodox Christians but Catholics and Muslims as well.
Much of the present monastery dates from a 1923-1926 renovation after a fire. The monastery was seriously damaged in the blaze and has been rebuilt: luckily for the monks who don't have to live in damp and draughty cells.
Nowadays there is a lower monestary as well, leaving the upper one to sightseers. Seeing a horde of people taking photos inside one chapel, and unable to enter, I held my camera up above their heads to see what was causing the excitement. An orthodox baptism I think.Read more